Riegelwood youth baseball team celebrated after World Series win

RIEGELWOOD, NC (WWAY) — A youth baseball team was given a hero’s welcome home in Riegelwood on Thursday after taking home a big win.

The Riegelwood Majors won the 2021 Dixie Youth Baseball Division II World Series. The team of boys ages 10 – 13 and their coaches traveled to Mississippi for the series.

The boys took on the best teams from Texas, Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama and elsewhere.

Dozens gathered at the Riegelwood Ball Field to cheer on the team as they arrived back in town. They were given a police escort and joined by a parade of muscle cars and a fire truck.

“I knew we’d have a lot of people, I didn’t know we’d have people standing on the streets in Lake Waccamaw and through Buckhead, and when we got here of course there was a tremendous amount of people,” said Coach Josh Simmons. “It just shows the love Riegelwood has for all our 11 players.”

Riegelwood beat the team from Taylorsville, Mississippi 8 – 5 to take home the trophy.

The team was last in the World Series in 2017 and finished in third place.

“I tell my boys now, I was nervous as all get-out, I couldn’t eat,” Simmons said. “It felt like I was going to throw up, but they got ice water running through their veins. Never once did they show a nerve, never once did they argue on the ballfield. If one made an error, the other ones just picked them up.”

The team also took home the sportsmanship award and player Adrion Jenrette was crowned batting champion.

They say the secret to their success is the team being so tight-knit.

“We’ve been coaching a lot of these boys since they’ve been four or five years old,” said Coach Tyrell Waddell. “We’re like family, we are family, that’s what we preach every day.”

The coaches also wanted to give a shoutout to the team moms for washing uniforms, packing coolers, and loading up trucks, saying they couldn’t have pulled off the win without them.